Jim is visited in his office by an old friend, Virge, who tells him that he is now married. Naturally, the couple are invited to the Andersons, where the wife, Jill is first seen smoking a cigarette through a long holder, saying she thinks she broke their television set.
As they sit down to talk, Jill is pleasant in a way, but as she talks about the books she likes, she annoys Margaret greatly, making her feel ignorant for not knowing certain authors, etc. Soon enough, Virge needs to take a 2-3 day trip to his mother's and because his mother doesn't like Jill, he asks if Jim and Margaret will put her up because Jill "doesn't do well all alone" in a hotel.
Of course they do, and she seems to continue to rub Margaret the wrong way. Because Jill professes to not being a good cook, Margaret basically shuts her out from helping in any way. She just wants her to sit and relax, making Jill feel unwanted. Now mind you, Jill tries to be nice and never directly says anything critical, but Margaret can't wait for her to leave.
Only near the end, when Jill has jumped in to shampoo Kathy's hair and breaks down crying as little Kathy gets her to admit that the only friend she has is her husband, and Margaret learns of this, does Margaret understand that she has been unkind to Jill by just wanting her to stay out of the way and not try to help her with anything around the house. She asks for help with that night's supper and we see that they will now become friends.
Now much of this was not intended to be funny as they were making serious points here. I found it an interesting story, partly because the new guest was much more realistic a character than the modern-day house guest would be on most shows. Today's shows would have the person ridiculously rude, such as the aunt who visited on The Hogans who on given a hint of advice about smoking, snarled at one of the boys—"You want to live my life pay my bills." I liked the funny lines in the beginning with Virg and Jim, and some of Jill's interactions with the kids were cute too. Betty of course, was overly dramatic about how much trouble she felt Jill was causing. Jill played catch with Bud and screamed at a frog Kathy showed her—from up close.
It was one of those "nice message" shows, pointing out how letting a house guest help out is usually a good thing. I give it a 7 for the good message.
As they sit down to talk, Jill is pleasant in a way, but as she talks about the books she likes, she annoys Margaret greatly, making her feel ignorant for not knowing certain authors, etc. Soon enough, Virge needs to take a 2-3 day trip to his mother's and because his mother doesn't like Jill, he asks if Jim and Margaret will put her up because Jill "doesn't do well all alone" in a hotel.
Of course they do, and she seems to continue to rub Margaret the wrong way. Because Jill professes to not being a good cook, Margaret basically shuts her out from helping in any way. She just wants her to sit and relax, making Jill feel unwanted. Now mind you, Jill tries to be nice and never directly says anything critical, but Margaret can't wait for her to leave.
Only near the end, when Jill has jumped in to shampoo Kathy's hair and breaks down crying as little Kathy gets her to admit that the only friend she has is her husband, and Margaret learns of this, does Margaret understand that she has been unkind to Jill by just wanting her to stay out of the way and not try to help her with anything around the house. She asks for help with that night's supper and we see that they will now become friends.
Now much of this was not intended to be funny as they were making serious points here. I found it an interesting story, partly because the new guest was much more realistic a character than the modern-day house guest would be on most shows. Today's shows would have the person ridiculously rude, such as the aunt who visited on The Hogans who on given a hint of advice about smoking, snarled at one of the boys—"You want to live my life pay my bills." I liked the funny lines in the beginning with Virg and Jim, and some of Jill's interactions with the kids were cute too. Betty of course, was overly dramatic about how much trouble she felt Jill was causing. Jill played catch with Bud and screamed at a frog Kathy showed her—from up close.
It was one of those "nice message" shows, pointing out how letting a house guest help out is usually a good thing. I give it a 7 for the good message.
